Re: Characters in the breakout novel

On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 10:06:11 -0500, Joann Zimmerman
<jzimm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <1he2dbw.uoxewx1livzazN%usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
Michelle wrote:

I think this is why I tried suggesting that it was one's flaws that make
a character interesting, only Patricia's right, that doesn't work, not
even as a YMMV.

I would say that it works for *** Francis. The flawedness is part of
the interest - not the essence of it, but an integral part.

This works for the Good Guys, but not for the villains, who are somehow
megaFlawed and become boring characters. Maybe it's because they're all
flawed.


Francis makes several of his villains, especially the minor ones, with
flaws that one can understand, if not sympathize with. The war gaming
kid who steals his dad's tanker truck keys for instance. The major
villains who are psychopathic, like the man who does the TV show and
hates horses and jockeys because of his childhood. The crazy one who
mutilates horses for no known reason, but whom everyone has always
liked.

In "Honor to the Corps" (a series of Marine novels set in WWII by
someone whose name may be Weber), the main villain is a Marine officer
named something like Macklin. I found him to be the character in the
series that I most understood and sympathized with, except for the
incident of the shooting range, where he tired outright cheating to
get rid of the hero. He truly didn't believe the hero was worthy of
being a Marine, much less being raised from the ranks to officer
status. He could never quite understand why he, Macklin, was not
gaining promotions, either. There's a hint that his showboating
volunteer time with the Philippine guerillas may have changed him by
series end, but only a hint.

The female villain in that series was pretty cardboard, behaved from
odd motives, keep working on her main goals long after she'd achieved
them, and went way overboard in the end. No understanding garnered,
no sympathy to spare. Very little interesting about her, either.
--

r.bc: vixen
Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher, etc..
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.
Really.
.

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